


Unable to Walk Away

by rhodrymavelyne



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:46:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29007027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodrymavelyne/pseuds/rhodrymavelyne
Summary: Freddie Lounds has a knack for showing up at places Dr. Alana Bloom would rather not see her, asking questions she'd rather not answer. Alas, she can't walk away from the issues Freddie is raising as much as she might like to...
Relationships: Alana Bloom/Margot Verger, Alana Bloom/Will Graham, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Kudos: 14





	Unable to Walk Away

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place right after Hannibal has been sentenced while Alana is walking away from court. The story in in the same universe as Questions She Can No Longer Ignore. I don’t own Hannibal but for over a year it has owned me.

Freddie Lounds seemed to have a knack for not only positioning herself so Dr. Alana Bloom couldn’t avoid her, but prompting involuntary noises of disgust. She’d done it at the university. Now she was doing it outside the courtroom. 

“It seems Dr. Lecter is about to undergo a priveleged incarceration under your care, Dr. Bloom.” Freddie blocked her path. “Just what did he do to earn such priveleges? What did he do for you?”

“You tell me.” Alana offered Freddie a tight smile and side-stepped her. A selfish part of her wished Margot was here. The part of her still thinking knew it was best Margot avoided Freddie and her questions. They had a way of unsettling you even when you had nothing to hide. Right now Alana and Margot had plenty to hide. “You’re the one who had all the answers the last time you talked to me.”

“Oh, I don’t have all the answers but I could guess.” Freddie moved to walk in perfect time with Alana, just as she had at the university. “Hannibal Lecter has some sort of hold over you, Dr. Bloom. Just how long are you going to sup with the devil before he decides to boil you in his own soup? You and everyone else who stands between him and the man he desires? Tell me, Dr. Bloom, just why did Hannibal Lecter walk willingly into your cage? What is he waiting for? Whom is he waiting for?”

This had gone far enough. Will was trying to start a new life. The last thing he needed was this parasite feeding upon his weakness, re-opening old wounds. Or perhaps one could consider them old vampire bites. Alana kept returning that metaphor where Will’s relationship with Hannibal was concerned. If Alana Bloom could do one good thing for Will Graham before letting him go, it would be to distract Freddie Lounds from this particular line of inquiry. 

“Me.” Dr. Alana Bloom stopped in her tracks and turned to face Freddie. “Hannibal has promised to kill me. He already persuaded Abigail Hobbs to push me out a window, a window I nearly didn’t survive.”

Was there a tiny flinch, a hint of a recoil in the reporter’s eyes and the way she stilled her lips entirely? Recklessly Alana decided to push further. “I thought it best to keep an eye on him, a personal eye, all things considered.”

“Bribing him with all sorts of special priveleges to make him behave?” Freddie raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think you can make your former mentor and lover behave, Dr. Bloom?”

“Hannibal has always been responsive to courtesy.” Alana allowed her mouth to twist into what felt sort of like a smile. “This is my attempt to persuade him.”  


“Yes, and Dr. Lecter himself is a very persuasive man.” Freddie took a sharp breath, like a hunting hound who’d just caught a fox’s scent. The gesture wasn’t too dissimilar from one Hannibal himself had made countless times. “Just what did he persuade you to do, Dr. Bloom?”

Alana tensed at this all-too-accurate assessment of the situation but Freddie wasn’t finished. 

“We can only imagine what he persuaded Will Graham to do.” Freddie watched Alana, now resembling a hawk more than a hound. “Maybe even Jack Crawford.” 

“Is there a point you’re driving to?” Alana asked, crossing her arms. “Because I wish you’d hurry up and get to it.” Alana wanted to hurry up and find Margot, hold her, whisper her worries in her wife’s ear. Margot had a certain cool, dry sarcasm in the face of trouble or simple irritation which Alana felt badly in need of. 

“Do you really believe you can keep Hannibal Lecter in a cage? Do you really think Hannibal would let you have him, if he wasn’t willing to be had?” Freddie took a step closer, invading Alana’s personal space to look directly in the other woman’s eyes. “Just why is he willing to be had, Dr. Bloom?”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Alana paused for a moment, felt her lips relax into something which might be a more genuine smile. She had a feeling it wasn’t a very nice one. “After all he’s been an avid fan of your articles, Freddie. Whatever Hannibal might be, whatever he may be planning, you feed both by giving him so much attention. You let him swell to even more monstrous proportions in the public eye just for your own gain.”

For a moment the two women just stared at each other in silence. 

“It appears we have something in common, Dr. Bloom.” Freddie gave Alana an almost gracious little nod and backed up a step. “We’re both feeding Hannibal Lecter. In one way or another.” 

Alana felt the heat rise to her cheeks. She turned her back on what was perhaps the most irritating professional woman she’d ever met and walked away.

The most irritating thing of all about Freddie Lounds was she was right. They were both feeding Hannibal, only Alana was doing it literally while Freddie was feeding his ego. 

Dr. Alana Bloom had had just about enough of this situation but she couldn’t walk away from it. Not the one with Hannibal. 

All she could do was hope that Will Graham could.


End file.
